An Orangutan Caused Panic After Running Loose at Florida Busch Gardens

An orangutan got on the loose at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida today, which caused a bit of a panic.

According to The Tampa Bay Times, Busch Gardens employees informed people the orangutan was loose and evacuated part of the park.

One park attendee even tweeted about it:

I'M AT BUSCH GARDENS AND THEY JUST MADE US EVACUATE CERTAIN AREAS OF THE PARK BECAUSE AN ORANGUTAN IS LOOSE ??

— Amber Whitaker (@AmberAlerting) July 1, 2016

A reporter snapped a photo of the orangutan on the loose:

Here he is. #orangutan on the loose at @BuschGardens. Patrons tweet part of park is on lockdown. pic.twitter.com/UIweVQQ7nK

— Chris Cato FOX 13 (@chriscato) July 1, 2016

And someone recorded video:

Orangutan got loose at Busch Gardens. This is moments after it happened… half the park has been shut down, people were erratic. #Harembe #NotKilled #CouldveBeenBad #BuschGardens #IWantMyMoneyBack #HappyToBeAlive #ItWasntAggressive #ItFell40Ft #AndItWasEmbarrassed #NoOneKnewWhatToDo one employee thought they were always allowed to wander the park. #FireThatWoman @katieg929 @buschgardens #TangItsAKickInTheGlass

A video posted by Nicholas James Scodary (@cardsfanaddict) on Jul 1, 2016 at 2:03pm PDT

This is how one witness described what happened:

“When we got there, some rides were closed and we were wondering why. My parents called us and said some drunk guy told there was an orangutan on the loose, but they thought he was kidding, but I guess not…

“We were sitting down, and all the sudden they just rolled down the big door and locked us in. A bunch of people were asking the lady who worked there and she said it was an orangutan,” Beauchamp said. “Then they opened the doors, and a few workers came down the aisles screaming ‘Everybody out, everybody out.’ They seemed a little freaked. People were pointing us which way to go, and they wouldn’t let anyone go anywhere else.”

Fortunately, the orangutan has since been taken in:

UPDATE: FWC confirms orangutan has been captured and returned to the enclosure at #BuschGardens.

— Bay News 9 (@BN9) July 1, 2016

And because this is the second primate-related piece of news in a month, this can only mean one thing: Harambe’s Revenge.

[image via Chris Cato]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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